Copyright: BBC

What's it like being a museum curator?

Expert curators from the V&A, give us the lowdown on what it's like a being a museum curator.

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Can you be the curator?

Put yourself in the shoes of a specialist charged with the V&A's collections. Can you place a range of objects into the correct place in the museum? Try this interactive.

The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

What do you see? How images can change what you think

Are images we see every day always what they seem? Look beyond your first glance and discover how images can persuade you to think a certain way.

BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities

From poetry to string quartets, and from sculpture to short stories, the extraordinary range of human culture offers rich possibilities for study. This broad and absorbing course develops a deep understanding of the world we live in and how we got here, covering a fascinating variety of perspectives, periods and subjects ? including art history, classical studies, creative writing, English language, English literature, history, modern languages, music, philosophy, and religious studies. You'll learn from the OU's world-class academic research, through high quality module materials and engage with fellow students from around the world.

Copyright free: Public domain

BA (Honours) Art History and Visual Cultures

This degree will equip you with the knowledge and critical skills to understand the histories and theories of visual, material and spatial cultures. This will be a rich and rounded experience as you go beyond the contextual study of art, architecture and design. You'll explore the power of images to influence debates, both historically and in the present day, and develop transferable skills in visual literacy. As you progress you'll acquire critical skills that address the subject area’s place in the wider humanities and as a component of study in the creative or cultural industries.

Wikimedia Commons under Creative-Commons license

Certificate of Higher Education in Arts and Humanities

This certificate provides a broad introduction to the arts and humanities, including history, art history, philosophy, classical studies, religious studies, music and English. You'll expand your cultural horizons whilst learning to think and argue clearly. You can combine this with options that includes the opportunity to specialise further in the arts and humanities, or gain an introduction to a modern language, design, the social sciences, or business and management world. Apart from sheer enjoyment, it offers excellent preparation for further study and will give your career prospects a boost.

Copyright free: 12019

Exploring art and visual culture

What is art and how has it changed through history? How do artists create works of art? If you're interested in the place of the visual in our lives, then this module is for you. You'll look at major artworks from Raphael to Vermeer, the Pre-Raphaelites to Picasso, and at buildings from Westminster Abbey to the houses of Le Corbusier. You'll study the religious imagery and court art of the Medieval period and Renaissance; the growth of modern cities and art rooted in classical traditions; and finally look at changing approaches to art making from Manet and the Impressionists to the global contemporary. .

Image sourced from Wikipedia under Creative-Commons license

Art and its global histories

This module presents a new history of art, starting with the Renaissance, when Europeans encountered a new range of desirable objects from across the globe. You'll explore the role of art and architecture in colonial expansion up to 1800, before looking in depth at art and culture in British India. The vital role that art played in the stories that Europeans have told about the wider world are highlighted, with suggestions as to the ways in which these stories might be challenged or revised. The module concludes by analysing the globalisation of artistic practice from the twentieth century to the present day.

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Cultures

Photo: © 2017. Art Resource/Bob Schalkwijk/Scala, Florence. © Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./DACS 2018

Art and the Mexican Revolution

In this free course, Art and the Mexican Revolution, you will explore one of Diego Rivera’s key murals which was commissioned by the Mexican government in the period after the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. These monumental public artworks, designed to win over the Mexican peasantry and working-class to the new post-revolutionary state, brought Mexican mural artists international acclaim and Rivera was subsequently awarded important commissions in the United States. Yet, due to his commitment to a figurative form of propaganda, Rivera’s reputation suffered during the Cold War period and these Mexican murals are now largely left out of dominant accounts of twentieth-century United States art.

Used with permission

Making sense of art history

You can prepare for this free course, Making sense of art history, by looking around you. It's likely that wherever you are you'll be able to see some images. It's also likely that many of these will be intended to have some sort of effect on you. In the course itself you will be exploring the power of images via a study of contemporary art from the 1980s onwards. Taking the time to look beyond the immediate appearance of an art work to consider what the artist might be trying to say can be immensely rewarding.

Used with permission

Textiles in Ghana

Textiles in Ghana carry a far greater importance than you might expect. This free course will help you to understand how textiles can carry an assortment of meanings and values, including wealth, status and office.